The suspect, who has not been identified, was caught in the toilets of a government pensions agency in Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, police chief Huseyin Capkin was quoted as saying by Anatolia news agency.

In early October, one person was killed and several others injured in two bomb attacks in the city that authorities blamed on Kurdish rebels.

Izmir, located on the Aegean coast, has a large Kurdish community.

The incident came as Turkish prosecutors started legal action to ban the main Kurd political party in Turkey, which has been accused of colluding with rebels of the armed separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).